Vehicle component monitoring control systems and methods

Abstract

Aspects of the subject technology relate to systems and methods for monitoring component wear to prevent premature component failure. A control system for a system having one or more mechanical or electronic components may include a life manager that monitors accumulated wear of the one or more components. The life manager may provide an alert and/or limit system operations when the accumulated wear exceeds a limit. The limit may be dynamically determined based on an operating age of the component. The limit may also be defined as a matrix of limits, each defined for a range of a particular operating condition of the component. Operating conditions may include an applied torque range for a vehicle wheel or a thermal cycle temperature range for an electronic switching component.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 determining an operating age of one or more wheels of a vehicle, the operating age indicating a duration of use of the one or more wheels; 
 determining a wear growth rate of the one or more wheels; 
 determining a projected wear of the one or more wheels using the operating age and the wear growth rate of the one or more wheels; 
 determining an accumulated wear value of the one or more wheels using one or more sensors, wherein the accumulated wear value is updated during use of the one or more wheels using the one or more sensors; 
 determining an overuse difference or an underuse difference for the operating age of the one or more wheels, both the overuse difference and the underuse difference determined as a difference between the accumulated wear value and the projected wear of the one or more wheels; and 
 maintaining operation of the one or more wheels responsive to determining the underuse difference and changing operation of the one or more wheels responsive to determining the overuse difference by one or more of preventing revolution of the one or more wheels in a designated torque range or preventing the vehicle from moving faster than a designated speed limit. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the wear growth rate, the projected wear, and the overuse difference or the underuse difference are determined for each of plural different operating ranges of the one or more wheels. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein changing the operation of the one or more wheels includes providing additional cooling to the one or more wheels. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining an available usage of the one or more wheels associated with each of the operating ranges, wherein the operation of the one or more wheels is controlled based on the operating range in which the one or more wheels is operating and based on the available usage determined for the operating range in which the one or more wheels is operating. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining an available usage of the one or more wheels that increases with an increasing value of the operating age of the one or more wheels based on the wear growth rate and the projected wear. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining the accumulated wear value as an accumulated cycle history of cyclic usage of the one or more wheels using the one or more sensors, wherein the accumulated wear value is stored in a component memory. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining the accumulated wear value as a history of wear for each of different operating ranges of the one or more wheels using the one or more sensors. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 applying an acceleration factor to the projected wear based on a first maintenance history of the one or more wheels; and 
 applying a deceleration factor to the projected wear based on a second maintenance history of the one or more wheels. 
 
     
     
       9. A system comprising:
 one or more processors configured to determine an operating age of one or more wheels of a vehicle, the operating age indicating a duration of use of the one or more wheels; 
 the one or more processors configured to determine a wear growth rate of the one or more wheels and a projected wear of the one or more wheels using the operating age and the wear growth rate of the one or more wheels; 
 the one or more processors configured to determine an accumulated wear value of the one or more wheels using one or more sensors, wherein the accumulated wear value is updated during use of the one or more wheels; 
 the one or more processors configured to determine an overuse difference or an underuse difference for the operating age of the one or more wheels, both the overuse difference and the underuse difference determined as a difference between the accumulated wear value and the projected wear of the one or more wheels; and 
 the one or more processors configured to maintain operation of the one or more wheels responsive to determining the underuse differences and the one or more processors configured to change operation of the one or more wheels responsive to determining the overuse difference by one or more of preventing revolution of the one or more wheels in a designated torque range or preventing the vehicle from moving faster than a designated speed. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to provide an alert responsive to determining the overuse difference or the underuse difference. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to control the operation of the one or more wheels based on an operating range in which the one or more wheels are operating and based on the overuse difference or the underuse difference associated with the operating range in which the one or more wheels are operating. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine an available usage of the one or more wheels vehicle component associated with each of a plurality of the operating ranges, the one or more processors configured to control the operation of the one or more wheels based on an operating range of the plurality of operating ranges in which the one or more wheels are operating and based on the available usage determined for the operating range in which the one or more wheels are operating. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine an available usage of the one or more wheels that increases with an increasing value of the operating age of the one or more wheels based on the wear growth rate and the projected wear. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the accumulated wear value as an accumulated cycle history of cyclic usage of the one or more wheels using the one or more sensors, wherein the accumulated wear value is stored in a component memory. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the accumulated wear value as a history of wear for each of different operating ranges of the one or more wheels using the one or more sensors. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to apply an acceleration factor to the projected wear based on a first maintenance history of the one or more wheels, wherein the one or more processors are configured to apply a deceleration factor to the projected wear based on a second maintenance history of the one or more wheels. 
     
     
       17. A method comprising:
 determining an operating age of a one or more wheels of a vehicle; 
 determining a projected wear values of the one or more wheels for each of plural different operating ranges of the one or more wheels, each of the projected wear values determined using the operating age and a wear growth rate of the one or more wheels associated with each of the plural different operating ranges; 
 determining an accumulated wear value of the one or more wheels for each of the plural different operating ranges, each of the accumulated wear values determined based on one or more sensors associated with the one or more wheels for each of the plural different operating ranges, wherein the accumulated wear value is updated during use of the one or more wheels using the one or more sensors; 
 controlling operation of the one or more wheels responsive to a difference between the projected wear value and the accumulated wear value associated with the operating range being less than a first threshold, the operation of the one or more wheels controlled by one or more of preventing revolution of the one or more wheels of a vehicle in a designated torque range, preventing the vehicle from moving faster than a designated speed limit, or providing additional cooling to the one or more wheels; and 
 maintaining operation of the one or more wheels responsive to a difference between the projected wear value and the accumulated wear value associated with the operating range being less than a first threshold. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining an available usage of the one or more wheels for at least one of the plural different operating ranges that increases with an increasing value of the operating age of the one or more wheels based on the wear growth rate and the projected wear. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 determining the accumulated wear value for at least one of the plural different operating ranges as an accumulated cycle history of cyclic usage of the one or more wheels using the one or more sensors, wherein the accumulated wear value is stored in a component memory. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 applying an acceleration factor to at least one of the projected wear values based on a first maintenance history of the one or more wheels; and 
 applying a deceleration factor to at least one of the projected wear values based on a second maintenance history of the one or more wheels.